Chapter 10

“Oh dear.”

At Elwin’s horrified yelp, Leon looked down at his own chest, calmly gathered the front of his robe, and tied the sash around his waist. Perhaps he had been about to sleep, because over his night robe, he wore only a light lounge jacket.

The problem was that he was not wearing the long shirt usually worn beneath such a robe. Through the slight parting of the garment, Elwin had seen bare skin. Which meant, most likely…

“I wear nothing when I sleep,” Leon offered, shrugging as he insisted on providing information Elwin had not wanted to hear.

Elwin possessed a great deal of curiosity, but not even he wanted to know things like this. As Elwin stared at him in dismay, Leon glanced at the book in his hand and grinned.

“More importantly, is the card-game expert reading a beginner’s guide at this hour?” Leon arched an eyebrow.

Too late. Elwin panicked and tried to hide the book, but he had already been caught. The lamp in his hand swayed this way and that, making both their shadows tremble along the wall, and Elwin’s heart trembled with them.

He considered inventing some excuse, then gave up. If he kept attempting lies he was terrible at telling, that man would only catch him again. Besides, Leon had revealed his embarrassing sleepwear habits without an ounce of shame, so perhaps Elwin could confess one shameful truth of his own.

“…The truth is, I do not know how to play cards. I have never tried. I am sorry for lying.” Elwin let his shoulders droop, afraid Leon would tease or criticize him again. “When you suddenly asked, Mr. Leon, I somehow did not want to say that I could not.”

But perhaps Leon had no taste for teasing someone who was being honest. He stroked his well-shaped jaw, thought for a moment, and spoke abruptly. “Then shall I teach you? Cards, I mean.”

“It is all right. There is this book.” Elwin shook his head at once, thinking the man would never offer kindness without some scheme behind it.

“That is a strategy book for whist, is it not?” Leon tilted his head. “The game Sir Dwight enjoys is probably écarté.”

Whist? Écarté? What were those supposed to be? Elwin was such a novice that he had not even known there were multiple kinds of games one could play with cards.

“You might as well learn now. Were you not trying to entertain Mr. Dwight properly?”

“That is true, but…”

It was the same thing Elwin had said on the day Leon discovered his Social Etiquette book, so Elwin answered without thinking. In the next instant, he remembered that what he had said was that he wanted to entertain the guests properly, not specifically Dwight. “…You are a guest as well, Mr. Leon. I could hardly impose on you.”

He hastily added the words, but Leon already seemed to know perfectly well that Elwin wanted to impress Dwight.

“Impose? Not at all.” Leon smiled roundly before the flustered Elwin. “Even an uninvited guest like me is being treated with such sincerity that I merely wish to repay it. Come now, do not refuse.”

For reasons he could not explain, accepting goodwill from this suspicious man did not seem like the worst idea. If the game began tomorrow and he merely sat there staring blankly, Dwight would likely not find that attractive.

“…Then I will trouble you.”

When Leon headed toward the table in the middle of the library, Elwin placed the lamp he held on top of it. Light fell in a soft circle, and Leon drew a pack of cards from the pocket of his lounge jacket.

“Do you always carry cards with you?” Elwin asked, wondering in horror whether this man was a gambler in addition to being a rogue.

“Surely not. I had only taken them out to check whether there were cards in my luggage.” Leon began dealing. “Now, watch. There are four suits in a deck, and in écarté, only the cards from seven through ace are used.”

Leon explained the cards and the game with the orderly logic of an experienced player. The rules were fairly simple. Two players each received five cards, and when the first player led a card, the other player had to play a higher card of the same suit to win the point; otherwise, the point was conceded. There were several smaller rules besides, but after two rounds or so, Elwin not only learned the rules completely, but calculated the probability most favorable to him.

“Ten of diamonds. I won this round, did I not?” Elwin pushed up his glasses with a proud face. “I understand all the rules now.”

“You are good.” Leon smiled, watching Elwin look so triumphant he seemed ready to conquer any parlor. “Since you had the first lead, let us now play with me in the dealer’s role.”

In écarté, the player who was not first to lead took the role of dealer and dealt the cards. After the hands were dealt and before the game began, the two players had an opportunity to exchange cards, and the dealer could refuse the opponent’s request to exchange. Unlike Elwin, Leon shuffled the cards with fluid hands and dealt.

“I will exchange three cards.” Elwin frowned the moment he checked his hand, thinking the numbers were terribly low. Elwin worried that Leon might strategically refuse to exchange them, but Leon readily drew three cards from the remaining deck and handed them over. Unfortunately, the exchanged cards did not have very high numbers either. As Elwin sank into distress, Leon said calmly, “I will go without exchanging. Let us begin.”

Since Leon had accepted all of Elwin’s exchange requests and did not change even one of his own cards, he must have had a very strong hand. Elwin had only just thought he understood the strategy, but discouraged from the start, he failed to connect his cards smoothly.

“Now, nine of clubs.” Leon set the card down. “What about you, Sir Elwin?”

“…Eight of clubs. You win, Mr. Leon.” Elwin laid down his last card, looking at Leon with an extremely sulky expression. “But Mr. Leon, why did you not exchange cards at the beginning? Was that not a hand you should have exchanged?”

Contrary to Elwin’s initial fear, Leon’s hand had been dreadful. Elwin’s own hand had been slightly worse, but if he had attacked aggressively without holding back, he might have had a chance at victory.

“Because your face made it obvious that your hand was bad, Sir Elwin.” Leon shrugged at the accusatory tone. “Rather than take the risk of exchanging my cards, I thought it would be better to make you believe my hand was strong.”

“Make me believe your hand was strong?” Elwin grumbled with even greater resentment, having fallen for that trick beautifully. “That sounds… exactly like a trick.”

“Rather than trickery, I would call it psychological warfare and a battle of nerves.” Leon remained perfectly calm. “Cheating in écarté is something else. For instance, when the dealer is exchanging cards, he might slip cards from the bottom instead of the top.”

Without changing expression, Leon placed his hand over the top of the stacked deck as if covering it, then drew two cards from the bottom so smoothly that Elwin nearly missed it. Elwin shouted in silent outrage, his mouth hanging open.

“Or one might peek at another person’s cards reflected in the window, or pretend not to have a card of the same suit as the lead and play something else instead.”

“That…” Elwin interrupted as though he could not understand. “The basic rule of écarté is to play a card of the same suit as the lead if you have one, and if you cannot, you give up the round.”

“Yes. Violating the rules is what we call cheating.”

Of course, Elwin knew the definition of the word. It was merely that, because of his transparent and upright nature, the idea that someone could do such a thing did not exist in his mind. Psychological warfare, battles of nerves, cheating. Perhaps this seemingly simple game was more complicated than he had thought. As Elwin pondered, another question occurred to him.

“In that case, is it better for the host to lose to the guest?”

“Pardon?”

“There was a section like that in the social etiquette book. It said that when one invites guests and plays croquet or tennis in the garden, it is gentlemanly to lose moderately, especially to ladies.”

Looking at Elwin’s transparent face, Leon made a strange expression that was hard to read. He stroked his jaw again, seeming to choose his words for a moment. “Well, Mr. Dwight is not a lady, so that is a little…”

“Ah…” Elwin looked convinced.

“Think about it,” Leon continued even more smoothly. “If you had a hobby you enjoyed, would you not want your opponent to do their best when sharing it with you? It would be even more enjoyable if the other person had knowledge as deep as yours.”

That was true. In Elwin’s case, even during horseback races played among family members, it had been far more enjoyable on days when his father was in good condition or when Eleanor’s skill improved enough to make for a proper match. Thinking he ought to learn the game more diligently rather than worry over such things, Elwin picked up the cards.

“You are right. Shall we play a few more rounds?”

“Gladly.”

“And please close your robe.”

“Ah, my apologies.”

Once Leon modestly adjusted his gown, the cards began moving again. Elwin made full use of his clever mind and excellent concentration, learning strategy quickly, but Leon was not an easy opponent. Leon would use psychological warfare to confuse Elwin, and just when Elwin seemed to read the pattern and turn it back against him, Leon would suddenly play in the exact opposite way and challenge him head-on.

This is fun. What an interesting game.

Before he knew it, Elwin’s blue eyes were sparkling. In the darkness, the wavering lamplight rippled in them like the sea. “I won this round. Then…” Having seized victory, Elwin chattered happily as he gathered the cards and handed them to Leon.

At that moment, the hand lamp lighting the dark library flickered.

Crackle.

The flame died with a soft pft.

“Ah…!”

Complete darkness fell. By some misfortune, their fingertips were just barely touching, and the two of them were plunged into pitch-black silence. Startled, Elwin could not speak. He only made a tiny, restless movement with his fingertips. They must have become so absorbed in the game that the lamp had run out of oil. It was a familiar situation for Elwin. Once he began reading, he would lose track of the world and turn page after page, so he had often been trapped in darkness like this while reading alone late at night. This time, however, it somehow felt different. One might expect it to feel better because he was not alone, but rather, it felt infinitely more confusing.

Once Leon disappeared from sight, the fact that it was only the two of them here became suddenly, sharply real. Perhaps because of the stillness, his breathing and heartbeat sounded unbearably loud. Or perhaps they were simply loud, regardless of the darkness. The moment he became conscious of it, every sense turned unnatural. His breathing, his pulse, his scent. As he tried to hold his wavering pheromones in check, Leon’s scent seemed to grow stronger. Had this person’s scent always been like this? Was he deliberately releasing more of it?

Is it all right to be like this with an Alpha? And a half-naked Alpha, at that?

At the very moment Leon’s voice flashed through his mind—I wear nothing when I sleep—Leon’s finger, which touched Elwin’s, moved ever so slightly. It was barely even movement, but Elwin panicked, yanked his hand away, and jerked his body backward. His reaction was so dramatic that anyone watching might have thought Leon had tried to pounce on him. Worse, now that he thought about it, the person who had remained still in the dark with his fingertips touching someone else’s hand had been Elwin, not Leon.

Why did I do that?

The question flashed through his mind, but by then he had already leaned too far back and was in the middle of toppling over. Startled, Leon reached out with both hands and caught Elwin by the shoulders.

“Sir Elwin!”

Just before he fell over with the chair, Elwin barely regained his balance in Leon’s large hands. The pressure and heat against his shoulders felt unusually intense, probably because of the darkness. “Are you all right?”

“I-I’m sorry. The light went out so suddenly…”

Elwin mumbled the excuse awkwardly. Both Elwin and Leon surely knew that quite a bit of time had passed between the lamp going out and Elwin suddenly panicking, but that was what he said. Perhaps Leon was just as dazed, because even after Elwin sat properly again, he continued gripping his shoulders for a while before abruptly letting go. The two of them exchanged only awkward coughs for a moment.

“Hm, hm. Then.”

“Yes. I have learned enough now, so I should go.”

Elwin hastily tried to rise, only for his leg to catch on the chair and make him stumble again. Leon’s hand, which had only just left him, caught Elwin’s arm.

“Oh dear. Let me support you.”

Leon could have laughed at him for stumbling again and again, but his voice was low and serious. That made it even more embarrassing, so Elwin forced himself to stand straight on both feet. “It is all right. I am not a lady either.”

“And my eyes have adjusted to the dark now…”

In the meantime, his vision had adjusted, and the darkness had begun to grow faintly visible. Elwin could see the large hand wrapped around his arm and the clean-cut profile of the man looking down at him. Had he lowered his gaze further, he would have confirmed exactly how open Leon’s gown had become. Before he could, Elwin startled and turned his head away. “I can see ahead. Then, rest well.”

Elwin pulled free of the man’s arm as if shaking him off and left the library. In any case, both of them had to go up to the second floor, but the thought that he absolutely could not walk side by side with Leon drove him to flee back to his room. The game… I will remember what I learned, won’t I?

He was so confused that, in an exceedingly rare occurrence, Elwin even doubted his own memory. Usually, he would fall asleep while reviewing what he had learned, but if he did that now, all sorts of things from the library would come back with it. He shook his head hard and lay down in bed. It will somehow work out. Believing that both the card game and this strange feeling would be gone by tomorrow, Elwin forced himself to sleep.

***